Santa Rosa Xtampak


Though less excavated than Edzná, Uxmal or Calakmul, Santa Rosa Xtampak is considered to be the largest and most important site in the Chenes region, and was perhaps the area's one-time capital. The long drive in means you're likely to have the ruin entirely to yourself, and (for now anyway) it's off the bus-tour circuit. The excavated area is compact and impressive, with ornate Chenes-style decorations surrounding temple doors, and around 50 chaltuns (wells).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Dzibilnocac

13.89 MILES

Though it only has one significant structure, Dzibilnocac possesses an eerie grandeur that merits a visit. Unlike the many hilltop sites chosen for Chenes…

2. Parroquia de San Antonio de Padua

16.73 MILES

On the central plaza, the 16th-century Parroquia de San Antonio de Padua church features an intricate retablo (altarpiece), with a gallery of saints and…

3. Grutas de X'tacumbilxuna'an

17.22 MILES

Some of the most significant caves in the peninsula are found 31km north of Hopelchén, shortly before you reach the town of Bolonchén de Rejón. The local…

4. Tohcok

18.31 MILES

Tohcok (spelled Tacob on signs) is 3.5km northwest of Hopelchén. Of the 40-odd structures found at this Maya site, the only one that has been…

5. El Tabasqueño

22.25 MILES

Supposedly named after a local landowner from Tabasco, El Tabasqueño boasts a temple-palace (Estructura 1) with a striking monster-mouth doorway, flanked…

6. Koolel Kab

24.74 MILES

A cooperative known as Koolel Kab produces honey with indigenous melipona bees, which take up residence in hollow trees. Using techniques much like those…

7. Labná

26.98 MILES

This is the Ruta Puuc site not to miss. Archaeologists believe that, at one point in the 9th century, some 3000 Maya lived at Labná. To support such…

8. Xlapak

27.04 MILES

The ornate palacio at Xlapak (shla-pak), also spelled Xlapac, is quite a bit smaller than those at nearby Kabah and Sayil, measuring only about 20m in…